The RUBY-CROWNED WREN (_Regulus calendulus_) is four inches long and
six in extent of wing; the upper parts of the head, neck, and back
are olive, with a considerable tinge of yellow; wings and tail dusky
purplish brown, exteriorly edged with yellow olive; secondaries and
first row of wing-coverts edged and tipped with white, with a spot of
deep purplish brown across the secondaries, just below their coverts;
the hinder part of the head is ornamented with an oblong lateral spot of
vermilion, usually almost hid by the other plumage; round the eye a ring
of yellowish white; whole under parts of the same tint; legs dark brown,
feet and claws yellow, bill slender, straight not notched, furnished with
a few black hairs at the base; inside of the mouth orange. The female
differs very little in its plumage from the male, the colours being less
lively, and the bird somewhat less.
"This little bird," says Wilson, "is an American species, visits us
early in the spring from the south, and is generally first found among
the maple blossoms about the beginning of April; these failing, it has
recourse to those of the peach, apple, and other fruit trees, partly for
the tops of the sweet and slender stamina of the flowers, and partly
for the winged insects that hover among them. In the middle of summer I
have rarely met with these birds in Pennsylvania; and as they penetrate
as far north as the country round Hudson's Bay, and also breed there,
it accounts for their late arrival here in fall. They then associate
with the different species of Titmouse and the Golden-crested Wren,
and are particularly numerous in the month of October and beginning of
November, in orchards, among the decaying leaves of the apple-trees, that
at that season are infested with great numbers of small, black-winged
insects, among which they make a great havoc. I have often regretted the
painful necessity one is under of taking the lives of such inoffensive,
useful little creatures, merely to obtain a more perfect knowledge of
the species, for they appear so busy, so active and unsuspecting, as to
continue searching about the same twig, even after their companions have
been shot down beside them. They are more remarkably so in autumn, which
may be owing to the great number of young and inexperienced birds which
are then among them; and frequently at this season I have stood under
the tree, motionless, to observe them, while they gleaned among the low
branches, sometimes within a foot or two of my head. They are extremely
adroit in catching their prey, have only at times a feeble chirp, visit
the tops of the tallest trees as well as the lowest bushes, and continue
generally for a considerable time among the branches of the same tree,
darting about from place to place; appearing, when on the top of a high
maple, no bigger than humble-bees."
"Notwithstanding all my endeavours," continues our author, "I have
never been able to discover their nest, though, from the circumstance
of having found them sometimes here in summer, I am persuaded that they
occasionally breed in Pennsylvania, but I know several birds no larger
than this that usually breed on the extremities of the tallest trees
in the woods, which I have discovered from their beginning before the
leaves are out; many others, no doubt, choose similar situations, and,
should they delay building until the woods are thickened with leaves, it
is no easy matter to discover them. In fall they are so extremely fat,
as almost to dissolve between the fingers as you open them, owing to the
great abundance of their favourite insects at that time."
* * * * *
The PENDULINE TITMICE (_Ægithalus_) are small, slenderly-formed birds,
with awl-shaped beaks, scarcely perceptibly curved at the tip; short,
blunt wings, in which the third, fourth, and fifth quills are the
longest, and nearly of equal length; and moderate-sized tails, slightly
incised at the extremity. The plumage is very lax, and the males more
brightly and beautifully coloured than the females. The young differ in
their appearance from both parents.